Sydney Robertson Blog

The Edo period can be considered one of the richest time periods for Japanese arts. The term Edo refers to the city of Edo, which is now known as Tokyo during the time period of 16 to 1868. During this time period the Tokugawa Shogun ruled Japan from the urban style capital. Wide forms of art came from the Edo time period such as, screen paintings, scrolls, ceramics, textiles and woodblock prints.  The Great Wave off Kanagawa - 1831 The Great Wave off Kanagawa is a famous Japanese woodblock painting created by Katsushika Hokusai in the early 19th century. The wave print is apart of a series of other paintings called "Thirty-Six views of Mount Fuji" which shows the mountain from various different angles and views. The painting depicts a towering wave that is about to crash onto three small boats. I have always loved this painting and I have many different styles of it. The color and how sharp the waves, are some of my favorite features. I also love this painting for it shows y

 Vietnam War 1965-1975  Nancy Spero  was born in 1926 and was an American visual artist who was also known for her husband Leon Golub. Both of these artists were war activist and were very engaged in protesting the violence that war causes. Spero created many art pieces based on what was going on at the time. She created many pieces that she called The War Series from 1966-1970. Each pieces was created with ink on paper. 1968  I was drawn to Nancy Spero's art due to how honest and brash it was. There was no sugar coating what was going on and how she felt about it. This art piece was one that I felt called to due to the fact that she used light colored red paint to draw the helicopter and portray it as a murderous weapon that deployed killers to Vietnam. There is a mother and child sitting on top of the helicopter that is supposed to resemble the people of Vietnam that are being slaughtered, when all they wanted was peace. This art piece is very simple but has a lot of emotion that

American Gothic 1930 - Grant Wood  Grant Wood was an American painter and mostly focused on the representation of regionalism. He mostly known for his paintings of the rural American Midwest. American Gothic is the painting that made him famous and became an example in the early 20th-century American Art.  In 1930, Grant Wood an American painter that was driving around Eldon, Iowa looking for a inspiration. He noticed the Dibble House, which he thought was a flimsy farm house with gothic church style windows. The couple in the painting were created from Wood in what he thought the kind of people should live there. Wood used his sister and the woods family dentist to style the painting after. In the painting the house behind the couple is a real look alike of what the Dibble house looks like. The women is wearing a apron with rickrack that is used to better reflect the time period on a farm. The three pronged pitchfork is also in the mans overalls, the gothic style window and in his fac

  The Romantic Era was more than just a artistic movement. It was literary, musical and intellectual movement that began in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. In many areas in Europe it was very prominent in 1800-1850. The Romantic Era was all about using the imagination of the artist to show its emphasis on emotions.  Realism art is a movement from around the mid nineteenth century, it is a movement in which artists based their subjects from everyday life. The term realism was defined by a French novelist in the 1840's The paintings were done in a more realistic life like way. Romanticism art was greatly described as a movement in art that shows expression of personal feelings and interest in the natural world. It is often used to express a more dramatic emotion and inspire deep feelings that the viewers can connect with. Romanticism art can be based on true events but be a more dramatic version.  Gustave Courbet - The Wave  Jean Desire Gustave Courbet was a French pain